“Young master!”

Isabella barged in and wrapped the ‘sick’ Adrian in a warm hug.

“How have you been?” He patted her on the back before breaking the hug.

“I am fine but you… *Sniff*” Tears were still rolling down her flushed cheeks.

“Don’t worry, girl. You know this is nowhere near enough to kill me.”

“But your fingers…” She pointed at his hands.

“This.” He brought out his hands. “It’s nothing. There is a solution, they can be reattached. Else, I wouldn’t have bitten them off.”

“Oh.” She cleared her eyes and wiped the tears off her face.

“Besides, what about your homework?”

She smiled. He looked into her eyes.

Adrian closed his eyes and palmed his face with his three fingered hand.

“You call that a deal?!”

The smile ran away from her face.

“Yes. I-“

“What did you take from her?”

“I-” She was tongue tied.

“Did you sense any sign of pain or sorrow when she gave them to you?”

Isabella looked down.

“You ‘serving’ her. Was it her wish?”

“She-“

“Was it a wish she could’ve sacrificed anything for?”

“No.” Her voice low to the point of inaudibility.

“Do you understand? You failed!” He shook his head. “You disappointed me.” He heaved a long sigh.

But that sigh was enough to grasp her naive heart and grip it hard. Tears began to well up in her just cleared eyes.

“I… couldn’t…” She looked at the marble floor. Tears began to slide down. Her hanged hands clasped.

“What?” He lifted her chin with his left index finger and looked right into her eyes.

Isabella again found herself being sucked into those dark eyes. But she did not mind; why would she?

He again sighed. “You pitied her, didn’t you? You had no intentions to take her most precious thing- her unrequited love.”

She panicked and turned away, not daring to look him in the eyes.

“Forget it. Love is something that is not easily taken. You chose a bad target. I guess deals are not a thing for you.” He turned away aiming to lay on the luxurious bed again.

“NO!” Her scream made him turn back.

He saw her kneeling on one knee, her eyes- surprisingly meeting his instead of looking down.

“Please give me one last chance. I will not disappoint you again.” Her eyes conveyed fiery determination.

Adrian rubbed his chin while thinking.

He looked at her with an emotionless face. “I will give you two options. One- I will punish you now and get it over with; we will be back to where we were before- as master and maid. Two- I give you this chance; you won’t get any reward if you pass but if you fail, you will be on your own. I don’t need a worthless maid.”

His ultimatum pressed against her chest. It felt so heavy- so heavy that she could not breath, her heartbeat died down to the point that it barely moved. All sorts of thought deluged her mind into chaos.

She gasped for breath and bit her lips. “I… I… will take the… the latter. I want a chance!” Her eyes looked as if they wanted to give up, but in the end- it prevailed.

“Your wish. You have time until ‘The Hunt’. Don’t show me your face before you succeed. Or…”

“Or?”

“When you need to take away your items from the dorm.”

Her heart almost stopped working. “I… understand. I won’t fail you this time.”

She bowed before leaving.

The moment the door closed, Adrian’s lips widened to form a smile. It was not his normal sadistic smile; it was a smile of satisfaction and pride.

******

Night approached. The lanterns in the dispensary were lit.

Adrian was sitting on the bed. Thinking of something. He squinted and looked at the door. He hurriedly laid on the bed and closed his eyes; just before the door opened.

A beautiful green eyed young lady entered the room. She took soft steps and approached the chair beside the bed before sitting on it.

Adrian slowly opened his eyes. “Is that you, darling?” He coughed.

“I know you are just acting. Nothing happened to you.” She snorted.

“That’s not fair. You can’t accuse your own fiancé like this.” He brought out his hands from under the blanket. “Look, my fingers- they are gone. Why would I sever my own fingers? Are you implying I am insane? A maniac?”

“EXACTLY! You are **ing INSANE! A MANIAC!” She brought forth one of her fists, clenching them- as if she were about to punch him.

“I was called insane two times on the same day- that too, by my customers.” He mumbled, causing her to frown.

“Why do you take such dangerous and harmful deals? Was I…” She looked away, her face flushed. “Was I not enough?”

“Ohho! Looks like my darling is worried, and jealous.” He smirked.

“Hmph! Who is worried? Who is jealous?” She pouted, the red hue had yet to escape from her face.

“Or else, why would you be here? Me being here is confidential.”

She puffed her well rounded breasts. “I am the newly selected Academy representative.” She declared haughtily. “It is my duty to ensure the well being of my fellow students. And you, Adrian Darkheart are a treasured student of the Academy. How can I not visit?”

“Whatever, it doesn’t change the fact that I got injured trying to do your bidding.”

Her ego inflated like a punctured balloon. “What… what do you mean?”

“Why do you think I put up with all this act? So that I can give the Belford family a visit.”

She exhaled a long breath. “How did it go?”

“Before that, you tell me yours.”

“I managed to rope the Silva family in. I just had to promise him a increased share of the market.”

“Not bad. And the Lochtear family?”

“I have yet to approach them. Many believe that the Lochtear family is stronger than the Royal family; they just don’t care about influence and focus everything on their martial arts. Duke Lochtear is the strongest general of the kingdom for a reason- he mastered the ‘wave’ martial arts.” She sighed.

“Do you believe it?”

“What?”

“That they are stronger than your family.”

“I don’t know. Battles were never our specialty. But when it comes to support, we can give 10 men the power of a hundred, hundred- the power of a thousand. You can say that us Royal family and the Lochtear family maintains a symbiotic relationship- that of warriors and supporters- along with the marital one.”

“Makes sense.”

“Now, it’s your turn. How did it go with the Belford family?”

He looked up at the chandelier fitted ceiling. “I made some arrangements; most probable scenario- they will leave the alliance and become neutral, best case scenario- they will join us, and the worst case scenario…”

“The worst case scenario?” She bent forward and frowned. ‘You fail, right?’

He looked at her and smiled. “This Kingdom will have one marquess house less.”

She straightened her back; a chill ran down her spine.

“That was a bad joke.”

“I am serious.”

She gulped. “I hope it never comes down to it then. Let’s leave that for now, when will you be hitting the next target?”

“If no accidents happen, after ‘The Hunt’.”

“Will you be participating?” She asked.

“Of course! How can I let go off such a feast?” He licked his lips.

Again, a chill ran down her spine. A feast? Tens, if not hundreds, of students die every year.

“You are not going.” He said.

“Yes, royals are forbidden from participating- on both sides.”

“Tsk, I wanted to taste some imperial blood. I’ll wait.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll have your time. I will leave then.” She stood up with the intent to leave. But the young man had other intentions.

She felt a strong grip on her wrist, surprising her. She looked back, finding a smiling Adrian grabbing it. She panicked. But before she could put up any sort of resistance, he tugged her hard. She found herself on top of him, facing him; his hands tightly pressed her waist against his.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” She pushed his chest- but to no avail.

“Why, darling? Do you want to leave your poor fiancé alone at night?” He made a puppy face.

“Stop. Let me go. Or I’ll call the dean.”

“Let me call her for you.” He removed one of his hands from her waist and placed it on the magic circle drawn on the bed side table.

Moments later, the head of medical department, dean Jenkins entered the room. The princess panicked and looked away.

“Oh my! Did I come at the wrong time?” The newcomer giggled.

“Of course not. I called you to know whether it’s permitted to sleep with her or not.”

“If it’s only sleeping, no problems. You are still not fully healed yet.” She winked.

“Ahh.” The blonde moaned as Adrian clasped her soft butt with seven of his fingers. She could not believe she made such a sound in front of a dean. She closed her eyes in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry, I know my limits. Oh, and can you keep it a secret? I don’t want to be charged with treason at this age.”

“Sure, young man. Anything else?” She smiled.

“Nope. Thank you.”

“Good night.” She left, closing the door.

“Hehe darling, now I have permission. It’s time for you to compensate.”

“Compensate?” The word scared her.

He brought his mouth close to her ear. “What? I lost three of my fingers because of you. So, the price increased.” He whispered before giving her ear an erotic lick.

“Mhmm..”